Hit the dunes with the 2018 Land Rover Discovery SVX

When Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) team isn’t dreaming up bonkers road-warriors like the 600-horsepower XE SV Project 8 or the F-Type SVR capable of 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds, they are busy going off-road.

The just-revealed production-spec Discovery SVX is being touted as the ultimate all-terrain Land Rover, to be hand-assembled by the company’s SVO department when production begins in 2018.

Making its debut at the Frankfurt motor show this week, the company says this is its ultimate Discovery iteration and the first Land Rover to bear the SVX moniker, which carries the cachet of a 525 horsepower 5.0-litre supercharged V8 petrol engine so come Friday night, you can show those Al Faya dunes who the daddy is.

Sitting alongside the Range Rover SVR and SVAutobiography lines designed for on-road performance, the Discovery SVX puts 625Nm of torque through the wheels, and feature hydraulic active body roll control, which additionally gives the car extra wheel articulation for better traction on the slippery stuff.

The company says all the important specifications have been improve, such as a higher approach, departure and breaker angles, achieved with a raised body won long-travel suspension and larger 20in forged aluminum wheels shod with all-terrain Goodyear Wrangler tyres.

The car also gets special calibration for its eight-speed automatic transmission, and optimized Terrain Response 2 system, as well as a model-first pistol-grip shifter in place of the regular Discovery’s rotary knob.

For visual distinction the SVX takes inspiration from past Land Rovers such as those used in the Camel Trophy and the G4 Challenge, with unique front and rear bumpers, skid plates, and orange-painted metal accents.

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